Argues that similarities in the socioeconomic and racial climate and the attempt to refute negative gender and race-inspired images were circumstances that were present in the emergence of single-sex schools for blacks. It examines the worth of such schools in affecting positive social change. (GLR)

Based on information on women who attended Oberlin College between 1833 and 1860, a sketch is drawn on the lives of American females during that period. Attention is directed to such demographic factors as the area of the country from which they entered the Oberlin College, the number of years they remained at the college, their mobility,…